How many dollars do you need to replace a $3 light globe in remote Queensland? Well, when the job is given to bureaucrats pushing wheelbarrows of red tape, the final bill comes in just south of $500.

Doomadgee State School, on the Gulf of Carpentaria, was billed $200 for labour alone after the teacher was told workplace health and safety regulations prevented any staff member from buying and replacing the bulb themselves, The Australian understands.

3 Comments for 'Costly fix'

Apologies for turning the subject to me. However I do some part-time work for a govt. dept., and use a room in a largish building.
The building once had a caretaker, who cleaned, mowed, weeded, fixed, mended, and replaced most light globes. Now it is all contracted out. I complained about a flickering fluoro, to which the building manager informed me that the electrician charges $60 to attend, plus cost of globes. I said I would do it myself. Heavens No! Think of the OHS issues. (Damned near caused him to have apoplexy, which was an OHS issue all by itself)
Government depts have lost sight of the big picture, and no longer care whose money it is that they spend.

My son is an electrician in Alice Springs and he charges $2.70 per kilometre plus standard rates for remote area work. Some jobs are 600km from base which is why the stations and remote communities wait until they all have work to perform.

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